Wednesday, April 28, 2010

14 May 2010University of NottinghamThe development of a critical educational movement has been long in the making, and is now urgently overdue. These are without doubt critical times. The futures of public and common life hang in the balance. Intellectual and political openness and academic space are being increasingly curtailed and foreclosed. How should we as educators be orienting our work, our relationships with each other, and with publics, communities of struggle and social movements? What constitutes critical education in these critical times?‘Critical Education for Critical Times’ explores different responses to these questions through a series of participatory workshops and dialogues. Each workshop, facilitated by educators with experience in critical pedagogy and/or popular education, will draw on this experience to introduce new work in empowering, prefigurative, transformative and critical pedagogies that are linked to social and political movements. We will open these examples up for criticism and discussion, and hope to consolidate the knowledge produced during the day into a common resource for further developments of educational theory and practice.CECT ORGANISED BY THE CRITICAL PEDAGOGY AND POPULAR EDUCATION MIDLANDS WORKING GROUPAnd sponsored by the Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cssgj/),with support from the Nottingham Freeschool (http://nottinghamfreeschool.wordpress.com/) and Critical Pedagogies Group (CSSGJ)Workshops/Discussions1 Learning alternatives to neoliberalism – resistance and renewal in critical education – Stephen Cowden, Social and Community Studies, Coventry University

5 Revalorizing critique in academic and activist education – Sarah Amsler, Sociology and Public Policy, Aston UniversityLocation and time Registration begins at 9:00 a.m. in the foyer of the Law and Social Sciences Building, University of Nottingham (University Park Campus), and the final session will end at 4:30 p.m.

To pre-register contact Sara Motta at: sara.motta@nottingham.ac.uk Please include your name, postal address and email. All those who register early will receive a packet of relevant readings for each workshop.

Nigel M. Greaves: "Intellectuals and the Historical Construction of Knowledge and Identity: A Reappraisal of Gramsci’s Ideas on Leadership"Sven-Eric Holmström: "New Evidence Concerning the 'Hotel Bristol' Question in the First Moscow Trial of 1936"Nicola Masciandaro: "Consciousness, Individuality, Mortality: Basic Thoughts about Work and the Animal/Human Boundary"John H. McClendon III: "The African American Philosopher: The Missing Chapter in McCumber on McCarthyism"J. C. Myers: "Traces of Utopia: Socialist Values and Soviet Urban Planning"Garry Potter: "Humanism and Terror: Merleau-Ponty’s Marxism"J. Jesse Ramirez: "Rage Against the Dying of the Light: Herbert Marcuse and the Politics of Death"Jacek Tittenbrun: "Between Subjectivism and Individualism: A Critical Appraisal of the Austrian Case for Private Ownership"Reviews

ArticlesJeffrey Cabusao: "The Social Responsibility of Filipino Intellectuals in the Age of Globalization and Empire: An Interview with E. San Juan, Jr. and Delia D. Aguilar"Alzo David-West: "The Literary Ideas of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il: An Introduction to North Korean Meta-Authorial Perspectives"Barbara Foley: "Rhetoric and Silence in Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father"Grover Furr: "Evidence of Leon Trotsky's Collaboration with Germany and Japan"Bülent Gökay and Darrell Whitman: "Mapping the Faultlines: A Historical Perspective on the 2008-2009 World Economic Crisis"Dave Hill: "Culturalist and Materialist Explanations of Class and “Race”: Critical Race Theory, Equivalence/Parallelist Theory, and Marxist Theory"Michele Frucht Levy: "'For We Are Neither One Thing Nor The Other': Passing for Croat in Vedrana Rudan’s Night"Gregory Meyerson: "Post-Marxism as Compromise Formation" (Foreword by E. San Juan, Jr.)Michael Joseph Roberto: "Crisis, Revolution, and the Meaning of Progress: The Poverty of Philosophy and its Contemporary Relevance"Spyros Sakellaropoulos and Panagiotis Sotiris: "Peter Gowan’s Theorization of the Forms and Contradictions of US Supremacy: A Critical Assessment"E. San Juan, Jr.: "An African American Soldier in the Philippine Revolution: An Homage to David Fagen"Daniel F. Vukovich: "Uncivil Society, or, Orientalism and Tiananmen, 1989"ReviewsPaul M. Heideman: Michael E. Brown, The Historiography of CommunismDavid Schwartzman: Eileen Christ and H. Bruce Rinker, eds., Gaia in Turmoil: Climate Change, Biodepletion and Earth Ethics in an Age of CrisisPoetryChristopher Barnes: Selected Poems

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Continuum have published ‘The Peacock and the Buffalo’ – the first complete English translation of all 275 poems andaphorisms by Friedrich Nietzsche, presented in a hardback bi-lingual edition.

“This is the first complete English translation of Nietzsche's poetry. ‘The Peacock and the Buffalo’ presents the first complete English translation of the poetry of the celebrated and hugely influential German thinker, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). From his first poems, written at the age of fourteen, to his last extant writings, this definitive bi-lingual edition includes all his 275 poems and aphorisms. Nietzsche's interest in poetry is no secret, as evidenced in his literary and philosophical masterpiece, ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’, not to mention the poetry included in his published philosophical works. This important collection shows that Nietzsche's commitment to poetry was in fact longstanding and integral to his articulation of the truth and lies of human existence. ‘The Peacock and the Buffalo’ is a must-read for anyone with an interest in German literature or European philosophy.” (The Publishers)

The collection was translated and compiled by James Luchte, who is a Lecturer in European Philosophy at the University of Wales, Lampeter, UK.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Patrick Ainley and Martin Allen have a well-crafted and disturbing article in The Guardian (Further Education) today: “Education is losing its legitimacy – time for staff and students to step in” (p.40).

There is an online version called “What choice for school and college leavers in this job market?” which you can check out at:

I have spent my lifetime as a teacher in ‘challenging’ primary and secondary schools, in teacher ‘training’ and in universities trying to tackle inequalities in schooling: inequalities that result in millions of working class children having far less educational opportunities – and subsequently, usually lower paid jobs – than the children of richer parents; especially the 7% who go to private schools – and snap up most of the highest paid, elite, jobs.

The very choice of what and how it should be taught, how and what schooling should be organised, how it should be funded, and where and how the funding should be targeted, and a consideration of ‘who wins and who loses' through all of the above, are all intensely political. And we want that politics to be in the interests of the millions not the millionaires!

I come from a working class family brought up in some poverty: for example on free School Meals (like a million others!) in St. Martins’ St., off the Lewes Rd., Brighton. I went to Westlain Grammar School, my brothers to under-funded secondary modern schools, such as Queens Park and Moulscoomb. Three times as much was spent on the education of grammar school students than on Secondary Modern students! My children went to local state schools. The inequalities I have witnessed – and lived – as a child, as a teacher and socialist political activist, have led me to spending my life fighting for greater equality in education and society, and against racism, sexism and against homophobia.

What an indictment of our divisive education system that students from private schools are 25 times more likely to get to one of the top British universities than those who come from a lower social class or live in a poor area! And that (in 2008) only 35% of pupils eligible for free school meals obtained five or more A* to C GCSE grades; compared with 63% of pupils from wealthier backgrounds. This stark education inequality mirrors that in our grossly unequal society.

It is incredible, actually it is only too believable, in Britain today, that the richest section of society has 17 years of healthy life more than the least well-off in society. The minimum wage should be raised by 50%. How can people – decent hard working people like some in my own family, live on take-home pay of less than £200 a week! And there should be a maximum wage, too! Nobody, banker, boss, or buy-out bully, should be on more than £250,000 a year. This figure should reduce progressively so that within 10 years no-one is taking more than four times the average wage, nobody should be creaming off £27 million or £67 million a year for example! Certainly not when there are 4 million children living in poverty! I was once one of them. I was helped by the welfare state. We need our public services. We need to improve them, not cut them; not attack them.

All three parties, New Labour, Lib Dem, and Tory, dance to the music of big business. All are promising cuts. Whatever they say, those cuts will hit schools, children, and the quality of education in our state schools. Already we are seeing staff cuts and course closures in universities up and down the country. In Brighton, for example, both Brighton and Sussex Universities are promising to cut out the nurseries, and Sussex to chop over 100 jobs. Brighton University is proposing to cut its Adult Ed art courses. Vandalism! Cutting popular and widely used public services!

And don’t believe cuts are necessary. They’re not! Cutting the Trident nuclear submarine replacement programme, bringing troops home from Afghanistan and Iraq, stopping the Identity Card programme, and collecting even some even of the £120 billion in taxes unpaid by the rich… yes, £120 billion!...would mean cuts are not necessary at all!

But you won’t hear that from the other parties, just from Socialists, like the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, and from Respect.

A Socialist Manifesto for Education is:

[1] Cut class sizes (they are currently some of the largest in the rich world- much larger than in private schools for example). According to OECD research Britain is 23rd out of 30 developed countries in terms of large class size. Other countries such as Finland have a maximum class size of 20. Finland is widely seen as providing an extremely high quality of education. For a maximum class size of 20 by 2020 in both primary and secondary schools!

[2] Abolish league tables and abolish SATS (some external testing is necessary, but SATS so very often restricts teaching to ‘teaching to the test’, and results in undue stress (and an increase in bedwetting, compared to the pre-SATS era, for example).

[3] Restore local democratic control of ‘Academies’. They should be run by the democratically elected local councils, and keep to national pay and conditions agreements. Why should rich businessmen and women take control of any of our schools? Let’s keep the added investment- but it’s the government that pays for that added investment anyhow! Let’s keep and enhance the added investment, but distribute it fairly between all schools. Our schools and the children in them are not for sale! Nor, through uneven funding for different types of school (e.g. Academies) should some schools be set up for success at the expense of others being set up (and under-funded) for relative failure.

[4] Private profiteering out of our schools! Bring the education services hived off to private profiteers back into either national or local private ownership! These include Ofsted, Student grants, school meals, cleaning and caretaking.

[5] Free, nutritious, balanced school meals for every child to combat poor diets, obesity, and… yes… for some children… hunger!

[6] Restore free adult education classes in pastime and leisure studies as well as in vocational training/ studies

[7] Restore free, state-funded residential centres and Youth Centres/Youth clubs for our children so they can widen their experiences of life in safe circumstances and enhance their education beyond the confines of the home or city.

[8] For a fully Comprehensive Secondary School system; so that each school has a broad social class mix and mix of ability and attainment levels.

[9] For the integration of Private schools into the state education system – so that the goodies of the private school system are shared amongst all pupils/ students. All schools to be under democratic locally elected local council control. No to Private Schools. No to religious groups running schools. No to big business / private capital running our schools and children!

[10] Free up the curriculum so there can be more creativity and cross-subject/ disciplinary work.

[11] Get Ofsted and their flawed tick-box system off the back of teachers. The results of Ofsted are to penalise even the best schools (outstanding in every aspect- other than in SATS attainments) in the poorest areas.

[12] Encourage Critical Thinking across the curriculum. Teach children not ‘what to think’, but ‘how to think’: including how to think critically about the media and politicians.

[13] Teach in schools for ecological literacy and a readiness to act for environmental justice as well as economic and social justice. Encourage children to ‘reach for the stars’ – and to work for a society that lets that happen – a fairer society with much more equal chances, pay packets and power, and about environmental and sustainability issues.

[14] Proper recognition of all school workers, and no compulsory redundancies. For teachers, secretarial and support staff, teaching assistants, school meals supervisory assistants, caretaking staff, there should be workplace democratic regular school forums in every school. Regarding jobs (for example the threatened job cuts at Sussex University – and the ‘inevitable’ job cuts in every? school after the election – and no compulsory redundancies – any restructuring to be conditional on agreement with the trade unions.

[15] Setting up of school councils – to encourage democratic understanding, citizenship, social responsibility, and a welcoming and valuing of ‘student/pupil voice’.

[16] Ensuring that schools are anti-racist, anti-sexist and anti-homophobic – making sure schools encourage equality, welcoming different home and group cultures. As part of this, anti-bullying practices in every school must be fully implemented, to combat bullying of all sorts, including racism, sexism, homophobia, and bullying based on disabilities. And this should be not just in anti-bullying policies, but also be part of the curriculum too!

[17] An honest sex education curriculum in schools that teaches children not just ‘when to say no’, but also when to say ‘yes’; a programme that is focused on positives and pleasure and personal worth, not on stigmatising sex and sexualities.

[18] No to ‘Faith Schools’ and get organised religion out of schools. If Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Zoroastrians, or whichever religion wishes to teach religion, let them do it in their own time, places of worship (Saturday/Sunday schools) or in their supplementary or complementary schools. Teach ethics and spirituality by all means, and teach about religions. But no brainwashing. Teach a critical approach to religions.

[19] Broaden teacher education and training so that the negative effects of the ‘technicisation and de-theorising’ of teacher training (that were the result of the 1992/1993 Conservative re-organisation of what was then called teacher education- subsequently retitled teacher training). Bring back the study and awareness of the social and political and psychological contexts of teaching, including an understanding of and commitment to challenge and overturn racism, sexism, homophobia and other forms of underexpectation and discrimination – such as discrimination against working class pupils.

[20] A good, local school for every child. No school closures! “Surplus places” should actually mean lower class sizes! And increased community use of school facilities.

[21] A completely fully funded, publicly owned and democratic education system from pre-school right through to university. Education is a right not a commodity to be bought and sold. So: no fees, like in Scandinavia, Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, where education up to PhD level is free. No to university or further education/vocational training fees! And bring in a living grant for students from less well-off backgrounds/ income.

In my jobs, firstly as a teacher, and now as a Professor of Education (and writer/editor of 17 books on education and equality) I have been round hundreds of schools. Many of them are brilliant. Schools in the poorest areas, schools in better off areas! Brilliant. But, with better funding, smaller class sizes, an end to the destructive competition between schools (if every school is a good local school) and with more professional judgement being allowed for teachers- then I look forward to a time when all state schools match the class sizes and results of the currently more lavishly funded private schools’. And working class kids – black, brown, white – get the fair deal currently trumpeted – but in actuality denied – by all three major parties.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Ideas for Changing the WorldRevolutionary politics, debate and entertainmentJune 17-20, ChicagoJuly 1-4, Oaklandhttp://www.socialismconference.orgWith the economy in shambles and with wars and occupations continuing, the challenge to change these conditions confronts us all. More than a year ago, millions placed their hopes in Barack Obama and the Democrats to solve these problems. But after months of broken promises and concessions to conservatives, jobs are scarce, the banks are unregulated, and full equality for LGBT people remains elusive.Socialism 2010—to be held in both Chicago and Oakland—will provide an unparalleled opportunity for new and veteran activists and scholars to explore questions about how we got into this mess and how we can get out of it.Last year, more than 1,800 people turned out to explore the history of struggles of ordinary people, to learn about radical figures who led social movements and to debate theoretical questions that can help us change the world.Join us for more than 100 talks on issues such as: What is the Real Marxist Tradition?, Race in the Obama Era, Capitalism, Climate Change, and the Future of Humanity, Abortion and Women’s Liberation, and Building a New Left in the Obama Era.Don’t miss the chance to meet, talk and socialize with hundreds of others like you who want to build an alternative to a system of greed, racism, war and oppression.

Featured Speakers:

GILBERT ACHCAR, author, The Arabs and the Holocaust; TARIQ ALI, writer, filmmaker and an editor of New Left Review; ANTHONY ARNOVE, co-producer with the late Howard Zinn of “The People Speak”; PAUL D’AMATO, author, The Meaning of Marxism; MIKE DAVIS, historian and socialist activist whose books include In Praise of Barbarians; SAM FARBER, author, The Origins of the Cuban Revolution Reconsidered; JOEL GEIER, associate editor, International Socialist Review; ANAND GOPAL, Kabul correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor; JAMES GREEN, author, Death in the Haymarket; BRIAN JONES, actor and activist in New York City, and a frequent guest on GRITtv; SONALI KOLHATKAR, host, "Uprising", KPFK-FM, Los Angeles; PAUL LEBLANC, activist and author, whose books include Lenin and the Revolutionary Party; ALAN MAASS, editor, Socialist Worker; MARLENE MARTIN, Campaign to End the Death Penalty; JOHN RIDDELL, co-editor, Socialist Voice (Canada); HEATHER ROGERS, journalist and filmmaker and author of Green Gone Wrong; JEREMY SCAHILL, contributor to The Nation and author,Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army; LILIANA SEGURA, AlterNet staff writer on civil rights and liberties; JEFFREY ST. CLAIR and JOSHUA FRANK, authors, Greenscare: The New War on Environmentalism; LANCE SELFA, author, The Democrats: A Critical History; AHMED SHAWKI, editor, International Socialist Review; SHARON SMITH, author of Subterranean Fire and Women and Socialism; LEE SUSTAR, labor editor, Socialist Worker; SHERRY WOLF, interim governing board, Equality Across America, and author of Sexuality and Socialism; KEEANGA YAMAHTTA TAYLOR, editorial board of International Socialist Review and frequent contributor on race and class; DAVE ZIRIN, sportswriter and author, A People’s History of Sports in the United States; SOCIALISTS from France, Greece, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Britain and many more!

What you’ll find at Socialism 2010: More than 100 meetings, a bookfair, films, entertainment, and parties.Check out http://www.socialismconference.org to register and for more information about schedule, housing, and childcare.

Sponsored by:The Center for Economic Research and Social ChangePublisher of the International Socialist Review and Haymarket Books.Co-sponsored by:The International Socialist OrganizationPublisher of Socialist Worker

Central London, Thursday 11th to Sunday 14th November*Call for PapersSubmission and Abstract Deadline: 1 June 2010Notwithstanding repeated invocations of the ‘green shoots of recovery’, the effects of the economic crisis that began in 2008 continue to be felt around the world. While some central tenets of the neoliberal project have been called into question, bank bailouts, cuts to public services and attacks on working people's lives demonstrate that the ruling order remains capable of imposing its agenda. Many significant Marxist analyses have already been produced of the origins, forms and prospects of the crisis, and we look forward to furthering these debates at HM London 2010. We also aim to encourage dialogue between the critique of political economy and other modes of criticism – ideological, political, aesthetic, philosophical – central to the Marxist tradition.In the 1930s, Walter Benjamin and Bertolt Brecht projected a journal to be called ‘Crisis and Critique’. In very different times, but in a similar spirit, HM London 2010 aims to serve as a forum for dialogue, interaction and debate between different strands of critical-Marxist theory. Whether their focus is the study of the capitalist mode of production's theoretical and practical foundations, the unmasking of its ideological forms of legitimation or its political negation, we are convinced that a renewed and politically effective Marxism will need to rely on all the resources of critique in the years ahead. Crises produce periods of ideological and political uncertainty. They are moments that put into question established cognitive and disciplinary compartmentalisations, and require a recomposition at the level of both theory and practice. HM London 2010 hopes to contribute to a broader dialogue on the Left aimed at such a recomposition, one of whose prerequisites remains the young Marx’s call for the ‘ruthless criticism of all that exists’.We are seeking papers that respond to the current crisis from a range of Marxist perspectives, but also submissions that try to think about crisis and critique in their widest ramifications. HM will also consider proposals on themes and topics of interest to critical-Marxist theory not directly linked to the call for papers (we particularly welcome contributions on non-Western Marxism and on empirical enquiries employing Marxist methods).While Historical Materialism is happy to receive proposals for panels, the editorial board reserves the right to change the composition of panels or to reject individual papers from panel proposals. We also expect all participants to attend the whole conference and not simply make ‘cameo’ appearances. We cannot accommodate special requests for specific slots or days, except in highly exceptional circumstances.*Please note that, in order to allow for expected demand, this year the conference will be three and a half days’ long, starting on the Thursday afternoon.Please submit a title and abstract of between 200 and 300 words by registering at: http://www.historicalmaterialism.org/conferences/annual7/submit by 1 June 2010Possible themes include: • Crisis and left recomposition • Critique and crisis in the global south • Anti-racist critique • Marxist and non-Marxist theories of crisis • Capitalist and anti-capitalist uses of the crisis • Global dimensions of the crisis • Comparative and historical accounts of capitalist crisis • Ecological and economic crisis • Critical theory today • Finance and the crisis • Neoliberalism and legitimation crisis • Negation and negativity • Feminism and critique • Political imaginaries of crisis and catastrophe • The critique of everyday life (Lefebvre, the situationists etc.) • The idea of critique in Marx, his predecessors and contemporaries • Art criticism, political critique and the critique of political economy • Geography and crisis, geography and the critique of political economy • Right-wing movements and crisis • Critiques of the concept of crisis • New forms of critique in the social and human sciences • Aesthetic critique • Marxist literary and cultural criticism • Reports on recent evolution of former USSR countries and ChinaPosted here by Glenn RikowskiAll that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.comThe Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.ukMySpace Profile: http://www.myspace.com/glennrikowskiCold Hands & Quarter Moon: http://www.myspace.com/coldhandsmusic

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Dear friends and colleaguesI write to warmly invite you to the launch of the London Paulo Freire Institute (LPFI) on Friday, 14 May, 2010.The LPFI will be based in the Centre for Educational Research in Equalities, Pedagogy and Policy (CEREPP) at Roehampton University, London. It forms part of a wider network of Paulo Freire Institutes (PFI) worldwide, including the PFI at UCLA, directed by Dr Carlos Alberto Torres, Professor of Social Sciences and Comparative Education.I am delighted to announce that Professor Carlos Torres will be International co-Director of the London Paulo Freire Institute, and will be giving a keynote lecture at the launch ‘Reinventing Freire for the 21st Century’.With best wishesPennyProfessor Penny Jane BurkeDirector of CEREPPSchool of EducationRoehampton UniversityFroebel CollegeRoehampton LaneLondon SW15 5PJ+44 (0)20 83923146

About Me

I am a Visiting Fellow in the College of Social Science at the University of Lincoln. I was previously a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Education at Anglia Ruskin University (2014-15). Prior to that, I was previously a Senior Lecturer in Education Studies at the University of Northampton. My interests are in Marxist educational theory, the future of the human and social time. The Rikowski family web site, The Flow of Ideas can be found at: http://www.flowideas.co.uk,
My Wordpress blog, 'All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski' is at: http://rikowski.wordpress.com,
Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski
@ ResearchGate: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski